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Journalism of Courage
Despite an appearance of unity in Karnataka Congress, there are signs that the factions led by state Congress president D K Shivakumar and Opposition leader Siddaramaiah continue to be at loggerheads.
The two leaders are learnt to be silently working to ensure the support of a maximum number of party MLAs to emerge as the Chief Minister if the party is elected to power in the May 10 election. There have been rumblings of discontent over probable ticket allocation in recent days. On Monday, there were protests in front of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) office by supporters of ticket aspirants from the Molakalmuru (Chitradurga district) and Tarikere (Chikkamagaluru district) constituencies.
A section of protesters was against the induction of Molakalmuru MLA N Y Gopalkrishna who joined the Congress from the BJP during the day. The demonstrators demanded that Yogesh Babu be fielded from the seat. There were also protests in Kolar on Saturday by party workers demanding that Siddaramaiah, a former CM, should contest. A protest in Chikkamagaluru was against fielding outsiders.
While a recently leaked audio clip of former Janata Dal (Secular) leader Y S V Datta who joined the Congress in January and a speech of former Assembly speaker K R Ramesh Kumar revealed attempts to consolidate Congress MLAs under Siddaramaiah’s leadership, sources said Shivakumar was trying to get the backing of a large number of party legislators in Belagavi and other districts by offering assistance in election expenditure.
Ramesh Kumar, in a speech on Sunday, said sidelining Siddaramaiah would be detrimental to the Congress’s electoral prospects. “If Siddaramaiah leaves the party, then the situation faced by the Congress in Andhra Pradesh will arise in Karnataka. If he does not contest from Kolar, Congress will sink in the district,” Kumar said, indicating that some of Siddaramaiah’s supporters had been mobilised to ensure he contests from two constituencies like in 2018.
Another issue that illustrates the underlying differences between the two camps is the selection of candidates for a few constituencies, most notably Pulakeshinagar in Bengaluru Urban. Siddaramaiah loyalist Akhanda Srinivas Murthy, the incumbent MLA, and former Bengaluru Mayor R Sampath Raj who is backed by Shivakumar are aspiring for the ticket from the constituency. Akhanda has threatened to resign and contest as an Independent if he is not fielded from the constituency in the coming election.
Sources said there was also bickering between two camps over 100 constituencies where candidates have not been finalised. The Congress’s Central Election Committee (CEC) is set to meet in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
The entry of the leaders of other parties into the Congress fold has not gone down well with many party workers. This is a challenge to the Congress’s plans to secure a clear majority. In Chikkamagaluru, the Opposition party inducted former BJP leader H D Thammaiah to take on BJP general secretary C T Ravi. But party workers ended up fighting as local Congress leaders met to address their opposition to Thammaiah. On Monday, district Congress leaders met both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar to discuss the matter.
In Shivamogga, some party workers were administered an oath by local leaders to not back candidates who join Congress from other parties with the sole objective of contesting elections.
